


four-by-four

by jenhyung



Series: a series of domestic events [5]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-05 16:29:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14048271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenhyung/pseuds/jenhyung
Summary: Doyoung realises it's the right time. — Doyoung / Taeyong (College!AU)





	four-by-four

**Author's Note:**

> 2k+ of this should be in 'under the thousands' but i don't know... i can't shake the idea of posting these separately?? is that a good idea?? let me know... wrote this before class, not beta-ed, not good, no plot, just wrote this because i'm stuck on what i'm currently working on
> 
>  **asode time period** : year 5, april

“Next time, I get to pick the movie.”

Taeyong ignores him, choosing instead to focus his attention on the advertisements plastered up against the subway walls.

It’s past midnight and the station is empty sans the both of them, which is not unusual for a Tuesday night. What’s unusual is Doyoung being _out_ of the apartment on a Tuesday night. Even with his film studies project due in a week and a half, Doyoung is not one to turn down a date with Taeyong, loving boyfriend of four months, no matter how much he’d prefer to just stay home and cuddle to sleep.

With stomachs full of popcorn and soda, they walk in-step, taking their time towards the exit closest to the apartment. A breeze comes by as they pass another exit, and Taeyong huddles closer.

Doyoung casts a sideways glance, heart thumping a little nervously (it always does, but tonight’s odd for some reason); Taeyong’s hair’s a little messed up from where he’d spent the last three hours leaning on Doyoung’s shoulder, hugging Doyoung’s arm as they sat through this year’s most boring movie ever. His cheek still has an impression of Doyoung’s flannel, and Doyoung thinks it’s dumb that he thinks it’s the cutest thing he’s ever seen.

It’s… something.

Surely, Doyoung’s had an inkling. They’ve skirted around the topic hundreds of times, as many times as many days they’ve been together. Always there, but not really. Waiting for the right time or the right place. He doesn’t care who says it first, he just wanted to be able to _say_ it. For a long time now, Doyoung’s waited. Waited to see if he was ready, or if Taeyong was ready, after all, they’d promised to take it slow, together.

But Doyoung knows, somewhere in his heart.

Really, he’s always known.

“I thought it was good,” Taeyong hums, swinging their hands, fingers intertwined.

Doyoung rolls his eyes, “You were also asleep half the movie.”

“Fine,” Taeyong moves to steady Doyoung by the shoulder, halting their step to press a kiss to his cheek. “You can pick the next movie.”

“And it won’t be a midnight movie,” Doyoung pretends as if he weren’t already contented at such a chaste kiss.

Taeyong frowns, “Why not?”

“You always end up falling asleep, Yong, what’s the point if you’re only going to watch the first half of the movie?”

Taeyong ignores him again, “Is that a photobooth?”

True enough, a photobooth sits just paces away. There’re stickers all over it advertising for some new brand of face wash Doyoung’s never heard of, but, out of his own will, he’s being pulled towards it anyway.

“If you want to take a picture, I’ll take it for you when we get home,” Doyoung reasons, eyeing the questionable machine Taeyong’s excitedly inspecting. He shakes Doyoung’s hand off to dig through his pockets for spare change,

“It’s only a dollar for a picture of four, c’mon!”

Doyoung groans, “It has such a crappy quality to it, I could take much better – ”

“ _Yes_ , I know you have big fancy cameras back home,” Taeyong smiles when he finds a dollar, ecstatic even over the smallest of things. “But I really want a picture from a photobooth with you! Where else have you seen one of these, seriously?”

Doyoung wonders when he’s gotten this whipped for Taeyong.

“Fine,” he grumbles, climbing into the tiny booth.

His legs are too long, knees bumping against metal, and there’s really no space for more than one person in there, but Taeyong doesn’t care, squeezing his tiny self just moments after Doyoung’s settled in. He drapes his right leg across both of Doyoung’s, shifting most of his weight onto Doyoung’s right thigh.

“Cosy,” he deadpans.

“I like it,” Taeyong says, bending awkwardly to slot his dollar into the machine.

“You like everything,” Doyoung stifles a yawn, wrapping his arms around Taeyong’s waist and hooking his chin over Taeyong’s shoulder. Bodies pressed flushed, Doyoung thinks he could sit here for hours. Taeyong stills smells good after three hours in a theatre and Doyoung’s sure he could fall asleep, right here, right now.

“That includes you, might I remind you,” Taeyong mutters, navigating the menu with just two buttons given.

“Really?” Doyoung counters dryly, watching Taeyong fumble with the settings. “I’ve been wondering what we’ve been doing, dating, really.”

“Your sarcasm is not appreciated right now,” Taeyong nudges him in the ribs with a pointy elbow, and Doyoung exaggerates a whine.

Finally, he seems to get the machine going, and the screen before them is counting down from _five._

Taeyong leans back, grabbing onto Doyoung’s hand (even though it won’t be seen in the photograph), knocking their temples together as he smiles until the countdown is up. The flash goes off and Doyoung groans automatically, squeezing his eyes shut.

“That really fries your retinas,” he mumbles, burying his face into Taeyong’s shoulder.

Taeyong, on the other hand, is concerned over other things that don’t involve his boyfriend’s retinas,

“Shouldn’t there be three more shots?”

Immediately, the photo strip materialises into the little cubby near Doyoung’s left knee. Taeyong reaches for it, obviously disappointed when he finds that the photo strip is just four squares of the same shot they’d taken.

Doyoung parts his lips to suggest they leave, but Taeyong beats him to it,

“Why aren’t you smiling in these?”  

Taeyong twists around to hold the photo strip accusingly, wherein the lower half of Doyoung’s face is covered by Taeyong’s shoulder, looking oddly, very sad. Beside him, Taeyong is looking very perfect, bright smile and an adorable twinkle in his eyes, as if he could very well be modeling for this off-brand face wash.

Doyoung thinks it’s a good picture.

He pouts, “I’m sleepy.”

Taeyong is unamused, “We have to take another one now.”

Doyoung whines, “Do we really – ”

“ _Yes_ ,” Taeyong swats at Doyoung’s shoulder. “I want one for my desk, or maybe my wallet – I swore I had more coins…”

“Y’know, I could easily print tens of these out for you back in the photography labs, right?”

“Shush, you’re not helping.”

The entirety of the next minute is Doyoung dodging Taeyong’s limbs as he tries to dig through all four of his pockets, emerging victorious as he finds three more dollar coins lodged in his back one.

Doyoung watches with amusement as Taeyong shoves another coin into the slot, re-navigating his way through the poorly coded screen menu.

Normally, he wouldn’t be caught dead in a situation like this. He didn’t like having his picture taken, a thing all photographers seem to have, and he didn’t ever like going on cute, spontaneous dates like these.

Yet, his heart’s never been this full from just _watching_ someone be happy, like Doyoung could be sincerely contented just by looking at Taeyong’s smile.

It’s something, alright.

Doyoung knows just what it is.

“Smile this time, okay?” Taeyong says, hitting the button that starts the countdown and settling against Doyoung again. He takes Doyoung’s hands in his again too.

And, to Doyoung’s credit, he’s a little distracted.

Distracted by how genuinely sweet Taeyong’s smile is, how it brings a rush of warmth through Doyoung’s veins, plunging straight to his heart. Distracted by how soft Taeyong’s waist feels under his hands, pampered by the meals Doyoung’s cooked for them both, once bony from just takeout and instant coffee. Distracted by how _right_ Taeyong feels, how their hands fit so right, how Doyoung tries to find Taeyong’s hand in every situation, while sitting on the couch, while walking down the street, just like how Taeyong does the same.

Everything.

The flash goes off.

Within moments, the second photo strip is printed, and Taeyong is unkind with his expression when he sees that Doyoung is, once again, not smiling.

Instead, just staring at Taeyong, lips pressed tightly together, brows a little furrowed.

“What are you _doing_?” He waves the second photo strip in Doyoung’s face, voice laced with exasperation.

Doyoung shakes his head to clear his thoughts, “Huh?”

“Why aren’t you smiling?” Taeyong berates, leaving the photo strip on the floor where he’d left the first.

“Why do you want me smiling?” Doyoung asks instead, pressing his lips to Taeyong’s nape.

Taeyong wriggles, ticklish, “I like it when you smile.”

Doyoung tilts away, entertained, “Do you now?”

“Yes, I do.” Taeyong takes second last of his dollar coins, pushing it into the slot. He busies himself with the buttons, but the pinkness on the tip of his ears say something else, “It’s cute and it takes up half your face, so can you _please_ smile so that I can keep a picture of it in my wallet?”

Doyoung shifts, sitting up so that he can finally smile proper for a picture taken by a shoddy camera.

“Smile, please,” Taeyong reminds him.

Doyoung is about to rebut when Taeyong gives him an unexpected kiss to the lips, a sort of incentive, perhaps.

It only serves as a distraction.

The countdown starts at _five_ , and Doyoung smiles, hugging Taeyong tight.

The countdown reaches _four_ , and Doyoung presses his cheek to Taeyong’s.

The countdown reaches _three_ , and Doyoung catches sight of their reflection.

 _I have to tell him_.

His heart might give up if he doesn’t.

“Taeyong.”

He rams his elbow into Doyoung’s ribs.

Over the countdown, “Taeyong.”

Through gritted teeth, “ _What?_ ”

With a breath,

“I love you.”

Taeyong _finally_ gives him the attention he’s been seeking, eyes near rolling off their sockets when he turns to stare at Doyoung. His lips are parted, jaw slack, but he makes no move to say anything, do anything.

Doyoung doesn’t even register the shutter going off.

Taeyong’s eyes are searching his, and his breathing is so shallow, taking in such rapid inhales that Doyoung’s afraid he might pass out. His hands are gripped tight around Taeyong’s waist, but Taeyong has a tighter grip on his arms, fingers pressing hard enough to leave marks.

Wordlessly, Taeyong lets go, fumbling to get his final coin into the slot.

Doyoung has no qualms, relishing in the moment Taeyong punches the button for the counter to start.

He moves quickly, splaying his fingers under Doyoung’s jaw, breaths so ragged that Doyoung inhales every exhilarated one with pleasure.

The countdown starts at _five,_ and Doyoung smiles, knowing what’s to come.

The countdown reaches _four_ , and Doyoung leans in.

Taeyong whispers, “I love you.”

Doyoung thinks he’s never heard anything sweeter.

The countdown reaches _one,_ and

their lips meet, melding together, smiling into the kiss as the flash goes off.

“I love you,” Doyoung says again, feeling like a weight’s been lifted off his chest.

How long has he wanted to say these words? Bumbling about with _I miss you_ s and _See you later_ s, Doyoung knows he’ll never stop giving Taeyong _I love you_ s now that he’s started. Weightless and invisible, but yet the one thing that Doyoung can swear by, _I love you._

“I love you too,” Taeyong takes all the air from Doyoung’s lungs as he pushes forward to convey love in kiss that he wishes lasted forever. “I love you.”

The sound of the fourth photo strip being printed is enough to have Taeyong pull away, despite Doyoung’s whines of objection. He returns with the third and fourth prints, and the differences are enough to make Doyoung laugh; Taeyong’s surprise and flabbergast in the third is a complete contrast to the loving smiles in the fourth.  

“I’ll admit,” Doyoung says, taking the fourth photo strip from Taeyong. He marvels at it, at how Taeyong’s gained inches above him by sitting on his lap, both their eyes closed, with Taeyong’s hand caressing his cheek. His lips are pulled into a wide smile even as they kiss, and it mirrors Doyoung’s, pearly white peeking from under.

“This one came out pretty good.”

Taeyong scoffs, “And _you_ said these photobooth things were a bad idea.”

Doyoung doesn’t care enough to retort, loving how the photographs turned out.

“C’mon,” Taeyong cups his hand around Doyoung’s cheek,

“Stop staring at that and kiss me already.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

(After a short discussion, they decide to take yet a fifth photo print to satisfy Taeyong's needs of having a smiling Doyoung tucked away in his wallet. The third and fourth sit in their apartment, framed like the most prized possession on that shelf.

Their first _I love you_ s, pictured and saved forever.) 

**Author's Note:**

> (related to works in the series, but should make sense on it's own)
> 
> kudos + comments / criticisms are greatly appreciated ♡ feedback warmly welcomed! [twitter](https://twitter.com/jenhyungs) | [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/jenhyung)


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